“Deliberately” Blocking Natural Senses Will Connect You with Something Unique

Your senses feel better when you give them a “conscious” break

That’s your five senses:

• Touch,
• Sight,
• Hear,
• Smell, and
• Taste.

While you sleep, these senses take a “Compulsory” break. They are active, but they take a much-needed break. They check themselves, relax, and go on a recovery mode.

As soon as you wake up, you want all the machines up and running.

It isn’t easy to let your senses rest during the day when you need them the most. We need their constant support. All of them hence, come back in full shape to support your needs.

Meditation Changed My Perspective.

Two years back, when I began practicing meditation, I realized in addition to the “forced” break which my senses are getting during sleep time, I should try and give them a “deliberate” break too during the day.

That’s when Meditation and Pranayama came to my help.

Initially, I kept it simple — find a comfortable sitting space, close my eyes, and concentrate on the breathing flow. That’s it—no more fancy drama.

Initially, the ride was not easy. Maybe, the reason was my choice of place. I opted to do my meditations while on a bus on my way to the office. The choice was unconventional, and it was tough to find the “Calm.”

I am a firm believer in the power of small and consistent efforts, and hence, even after a lot of outside noise, I kept the routine going. My mind slowly adjusted and started the filtering process.

The noise filter worked each day momentarily, but that was enough for my habit to start forming a shape.

Then, Covid arrived, and an enforced WFH commenced.

I shifted the “on the move” meditation to an early morning, well-structured meditation routine.

The settings were “right” and “recommended.” And, the habit started coming much closer to me.

The Routine

My meditation routine is a mix of:

1. 2-minute breathing exercise — Close eyes and concentrate on the breathing flow. This lets me relax.
2. Square breathing — Four equal-sized stages — Inhale, Hold, Exhale, Suspend. Choose a count — 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 and maintain it during all the stages. This stage sets me up for a stable focus on my breathing cycle.
3. 2–3–1 rhythmic breathing — Inhale while counting 2, hold while counting till 3 and exhale while counting till 1. Make it challenging by applying any multiples — 4–6–2 or 6–9–3 or 8–12–4 (keeping the ratio as 2–3–1). At this stage, my mind completely follows the rhythm and leaves me calm and relax.
4. Notice the surrounding noises — Close eyes and concentrate on all the noises around me. After the three initial activities, my mind allows me to notice all the surrounding activities and get a different perspective.

Meditation is followed by a few minutes of Pranayama. In Sanskrit, “prana” means life energy, and “Yama” means control.

Pranayama

My daily Pranayama cycles, too, are a mix of:

1. Anulom-Vilom — alternate nostril breathing.
2. Brahamari — Close your eyes and ears and chant the “MMMMMMMMMM” noise. (as in OMMMMMMMMMM)
3. Kapalbhati — Taking deep and quick breaths from the stomach.
4. Bhastrika — Slow inhale while taking hands up and strong exhale while bringing hands down.

Meditation forces me to take a “deliberate” break.

• While meditating, I close my eyes.
• While performing Brahamari, I close my ears,
• While doing Anulom-Vilom, I close my nostrils,
• And, while I am doing all of these, my mouth remains closed.

There is silence, complete silence.

Forced vs. Opted — Note that all this, while it’s not a forced closure of my senses; it’s an “opted” one. I am “choosing” to close my senses when I am awake.

And that’s one difference with the “forced” closure during sleep.

Eyes —

Closing eyes when you are not sleeping means allowing your mind to see an alternate world.

While we sleep, our minds let us see dreams. And, dreams are not our “choice.” They come as they want to come. They show us stories that they want to show. We don’t choose to decide our dreams (unless you are a trained Lucid dream practitioner!)

But, when I choose to meditate, my eyes are at complete “chosen” rest.

That allows my other senses to become extra-active.

I see with my ears, instead. All the sounds and noise around me become loud and clear, whether it’s the birds or the fan or the crackling of the doors.

The sense of smell takes over the eyes too. Suddenly, my nostrils start listening to all the little smells around me.

When I open my eyes again, the light of the day seems to be much more radiant, and the sky looks more golden. It’s a feeling of newness. After few minutes of closed eyes, when the Sunlight strikes my eyes again, the same scenes look different. The perspective towards them changes.

Ears —

Bhramari — This breathing technique derives its name from the black Indian bee called Bhramari. (Bhramari = type of Indian bee; pranayama = breathing technique)

The exhalation in this pranayama resembles the typical humming sound, which explains why it is named so.

After I am done with my meditation, I keep my eyes close while placing thumbs on the ear lobes to close them. Then I chant “MMMMMMM” in a loud voice, sending waves inside my whole body. I feel the entire humming of this chant, and the body releases all the physical and mental pain.

The real fun begins when I open my ears.

Suddenly, all the voices around me become extra clear and loud. I feel such a relief listening to all the birds chirping. They seem to be better than usual. I can feel the difference in the tone of these noises in my left and right ear.

If you want to feel the way you listen to ordinary noises around you, close your ears for a few seconds, you will experience the difference right away.

Mouth —

The entire meditation exercise is an experiment and a journey. The most interesting part is that my mouth gets a rest, and hence the mind takeovers.

Yes, there are thoughts and loads of them. But slowly, the meditation exercise takes them over. You feel calm, and the meditative practice puts a hold on the thoughts.

Like intermittent fasting, giving a break to our senses helps us view a different set of perspectives; it also helps us function better.

If you can switch off your “speaking” mind, the “thinking” mind will create some new energy.

Meditation is for everyone.

Choosing to close your senses and meditate is not just for the monks sitting in the mountains. It’s for everyone.

The momentary calm that mediation ensues is not just momentary; these brief moments have the power to snowball and turn yourself into a new being.

You can create a meditation retreat for yourself anywhere you want. You need a place to sit comfortably and close your eyes. Your breathing is music, and you need to close your eyes to listen to this music. This silent music has the power to quiet all thoughts and experience a new world.

Give yourself a gift of meditation.

Five minutes of any habit is never enough, but to start, they will help you change your perspective.

Our senses are our gateway to the external world. They are also a channel to experience your inner world. Meditation helps you create a path to reach this inner world and experience it with a different set of eyes.

Nishith is a Marathoner, an avid reader, author, YouTuber, Podcaster, a diarist, a personal transformation coach, and creator of a unique self-transformation platform — “Be Better Bit-By-Bit.”

Grab your copy of his debut book — Be Better Bit-By-Bit and listen to his podcasts Be Better Bit-By-Bit and 10 Bullets — 100 Words Book Summary.